South Carolina basketball reserve Ebrima Dibba entered the transfer portal back in March. Dibba spent two years with the Gamecocks but didn’t play at all in the 2022-2023 season and just six games in the 2023-2024 campaign as he dealt with an Achilles tear and the subsequent complications of trying to return to basketball after such a serious injury.
Dibba was a member of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers program for four seasons before he transferred to Columbia. Thanks to a redshirt, the “Covid redshirt,” and a medical redshirt, he will play his seventh season of college basketball, starting this November.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that Dibba had found his new home, but he will not continue his run of playing for teams with rooster mascots (Gamecocks and Chanticleers). In the late morning, the Cleveland State Vikings announced that Ebrima Dibba was the final member of their 2024 transfer portal signing class.
Dibba, a player with a lot of positional versatility when healthy, has seen action at every position but center during his collegiate career. He joins a Cleveland State Vikings squad that won 21 games, made it to the Horizon League Tournament final, and played in the College Basketball Invitational a season ago.
The Gamecocks did not only lose Ebrima Dibba to the transfer portal this offseason. All-SEC guard Meechie Johnson surprisingly entered the portal and left the South Carolina basketball program to return to the Ohio State Buckeyes where he began his career. Center Josh Gray put his name into the transfer portal more recently but has not committed to a new school yet.
While the transfer portal taketh, the transfer portal also giveth. Dibba, Johnson, and Gray all left the program, but South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris has brought in point guard Jamarii Thomas (Norfolk State Spartans) and post players Jordan Butler (Missouri Tigers) and Nick Pringle (Alabama Crimson Tide).
